Engineers and small manufacturers look for a SOLIDWORKS alternative when they want a price they can read before talking to a reseller, a browser-based or cloud-first tool, a permanent licence, or free software. Others find the product larger than their work needs. They move to rival mechanical CAD, to a surface modeller, or to a lighter drafting tool.
Short answer: The closest replacements for SOLIDWORKS in our CAD ranking are Onshape, Designcenter Solid Edge and PTC Creo. Choose Onshape if you want browser-based CAD with built-in version control and a published price. All 11 alternatives below are ranked products from Best CAD Software in 2026, and each says where it differs from SOLIDWORKS.
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Pricing: Yearly licence per user from $2,820, published; quarterly and perpetual licences through resellers
Established in: France
Built for: Manufacturers whose suppliers, hires and add-ins already assume SOLIDWORKS files
Not for: Buyers wanting a licence with no ongoing obligation or cloud-deployed licensing
01
Why buyers look past SOLIDWORKS
01
Rivals publish their prices, the SOLIDWORKS portfolio page does not
Onshape lists $1,500 per user per year for Standard and $2,500 for Professional. Shapr3D lists Pro at $299 per editor seat billed annually, and Rhino lists 995 euros for one commercial user in Europe. The Dassault Systèmes product page we reviewed for SOLIDWORKS describes the portfolio without a price. A buyer who wants a figure to take to a budget meeting has to start a conversation first.
02
A portfolio tied to a platform
Dassault Systèmes presents SOLIDWORKS Design as 3D CAD with cloud collaboration, secure file management and AI-powered features, alongside the 3DEXPERIENCE platform. That suits organisations that want the whole stack. A small shop that wants drawing and modelling on one machine may not want to buy into a platform, and a team that wants everything in a browser has simpler options.
03
More tool than some work needs
SOLIDWORKS is a mechanical design package. For flat drawings, architectural models or freeform surfaces, other tools do the job directly, some of them free. Teams in those cases often find that most of the product goes unused and look for something sized to the work.
Subscription per user, bought online or through Siemens partners, prices not published; personal-use Community Edition at no cost; perpetual through resellers
Siemens mid-range MCAD with direct and history-based modelling together
you want a comparable mechanical suite from a different vendor, with free ways to try it
Perpetual licence per seat, published: Standard from €799, Professional from €1,299, excluding VAT; optional yearly maintenance; also through resellers
Perpetual DWG-compatible drafting sold at a fraction of AutoCAD
your output is mostly 2D drawings and you want a second source for the 3D side
Monthly or annual subscription only; perpetual licences no longer sold; bought via the customer portal store or distributors
Design-led CAD and BIM for architecture, landscape and entertainment
your design work is closer to buildings, landscapes or staging than to machine parts
#10
03
What each one does differently
1
Onshape
United States · Per-seat subscription, published: Standard $1,500 and Professional $2,500 per user per year; free plan for non-commercial use with public documents
Onshape is delivered online and priced per user per year: Standard at $1,500, Professional at $2,500 with advanced PDM, simulation, rendering and CAM. A free plan exists for non-commercial use, with all documents public. It needs a connection and keeps your data on the vendor's service.
Switch from SOLIDWORKS if you want browser-based CAD with built-in version control and a published price.
Germany · Subscription per user, bought online or through Siemens partners, prices not published; personal-use Community Edition at no cost; perpetual through resellers
Designcenter Solid Edge from Siemens combines direct and parametric modelling through synchronous technology and advertises cloud-ready design. A free trial, Community Edition, Startups and Students programmes and a free viewer lower the cost of trying it. It is the nearest mechanical rival by scope.
Switch from SOLIDWORKS if you want a comparable mechanical suite from a different vendor, with free ways to try it.
United States · Subscription per seat by package, on premises or as SaaS (Creo+); entry packages sold in PTC's online store, larger teams quoted
PTC Creo comes as an on-premises product and as Creo+, a SaaS offering with cloud collaboration and simpler licence management. PTC lists additive manufacturing, composite structures and generative design. It is aimed at larger engineering organisations rather than small shops.
Switch from SOLIDWORKS if you design complex assemblies and want the choice between on-premises and SaaS.
Hungary · Free plan; paid per seat, published; enterprise quoted
Shapr3D runs on Windows, macOS, iPadOS and visionOS, with a free Basic plan limited to two projects and Pro at $299 per editor seat billed annually, excluding VAT. It imports STEP, IGES, DWG and STL. It targets quick solid modelling and hand-offs to manufacturing, not large assemblies.
Switch from SOLIDWORKS if you design parts on a tablet or Mac and want a low entry price.
United States · Perpetual licence per seat, published; paid version upgrades, optional
Rhino 8 is a freeform surface modeller for Windows and Mac. Licences are permanent and do not expire, at 995 euros for one commercial user in Europe, with support and service releases for the current version. It is not a feature-based mechanical package with assemblies and drawings in SOLIDWORKS's sense.
Switch from SOLIDWORKS if you model organic or complex curved surfaces and want to buy once.
Belgium · Free and open source under LGPL; no licence or support contract
FreeCAD is a parametric 3D modeller under LGPL-2.1 that runs on Windows, Mac and Linux without any licence fee. The cost is learning time and the absence of a vendor support contract. It reads and writes many open file formats.
Switch from SOLIDWORKS if you need free parametric CAD and can accept community support.
China · Perpetual licence per seat, published: Standard from €799, Professional from €1,299, excluding VAT; optional yearly maintenance; also through resellers
ZWSOFT's ZWCAD is a DWG-compatible 2D and 3D CAD package, and ZWSOFT sells ZW3D separately as a professional 3D CAD solution for machinery design. ZWCAD reads DWG, DXF and DWT. On its own it is a drafting tool, not a feature-based solid modeller like SOLIDWORKS.
Switch from SOLIDWORKS if your output is mostly 2D drawings and you want a second source for the 3D side.
Belgium · Perpetual licence or one- or three-year subscription, published, per edition from Lite to Ultimate
Octave BricsCAD is a DWG-based platform sold in levels from Lite (essential 2D) to Pro, Mechanical, BIM and an Ultimate bundle. Its Mechanical level adds 2D and 3D mechanical CAD to document manufacturing processes. It is drawing-led, so assemblies are less central than in SOLIDWORKS.
Switch from SOLIDWORKS if your team lives in DWG and wants some 3D mechanical tools on top.
United States · Per user subscription, monthly or annual, published: Go $10.75, Pro $33.25, Studio $71.58 per month billed annually
SketchUp is a quick 3D modeller from Trimble with Go at $10.75, Pro at $33.25 and Studio at $71.58 per user per month, billed annually. Pro adds a desktop modeler and LayOut for 2D documentation. It is a concept and building-model tool, not a mechanical package with parametric features.
Switch from SOLIDWORKS if you build enclosures, fixtures or architectural models rather than engineered parts.
Switzerland · Free and open source Community Edition under GPLv3; Professional edition a one-off €50.82 including VAT, with a year of updates, published
QCAD is a 2D CAD application, open source under GPLv3, for Windows, macOS and Linux with DXF and DWG import and export. It has no 3D modelling, so it replaces only the drafting side of what SOLIDWORKS does.
Switch from SOLIDWORKS if you only need 2D drawings and want free software.
United States · Monthly or annual subscription only; perpetual licences no longer sold; bought via the customer portal store or distributors
Vectorworks combines 2D drafting, 3D modelling and BIM, with editions for architecture, landscape and entertainment design. It is not a mechanical engineering package. We could not retrieve a price from the pages we reviewed.
Switch from SOLIDWORKS if your design work is closer to buildings, landscapes or staging than to machine parts.
SOLIDWORKS stays the sensible choice when your suppliers, customers and colleagues already work in its files and your team has years of experience with it. Switching mechanical CAD is expensive: models have to be translated, drawings re-checked and people retrained, and design history rarely survives the trip intact. If the price you pay is acceptable and your files circulate in SOLIDWORKS format, the cost of moving usually exceeds the saving.
05
What moving off SOLIDWORKS involves
01
Feature history does not translate
Parametric models exported to STEP or IGES arrive as geometry without their feature trees. Plan to keep the original files, rebuild the active parts you still edit in the new tool, and treat the rest as reference geometry.
02
Drawings and assemblies need a test run
Choose one finished assembly with its drawings and move it first. Check dimensions, tolerances and bills of materials against the original, and only then plan the cutover for live projects.
06
Questions about replacing SOLIDWORKS
5 answers
Is there a free alternative to SOLIDWORKS?
FreeCAD is free and open source for 3D parametric modelling. Shapr3D has a free Basic plan limited to two projects. Onshape has a free plan for non-commercial use in which all documents are public, and Solid Edge offers a Community Edition and a free trial.
Is there a browser-based alternative to SOLIDWORKS?
Onshape is delivered online and publishes prices of $1,500 and $2,500 per user per year. PTC also offers Creo+ as a SaaS version of Creo, and Dassault describes SOLIDWORKS Design with cloud collaboration.
Can I buy CAD software once instead of subscribing?
Rhino sells permanent licences that do not expire, priced at 995 euros for one commercial user in Europe. Check the other vendors' own pages for current licence terms.
Which alternative is closest to SOLIDWORKS?
Designcenter Solid Edge and PTC Creo are the closest in scope, as mechanical design suites. Onshape is the closest in workflow if you are willing to work online.
Can I open SOLIDWORKS files in other programs?
Neutral formats such as STEP are the usual route. Shapr3D lists STEP and IGES among its import formats, and BricsCAD lists a range of file formats, so test your own files before you commit.
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Sources
Checked 8 October 2026
Dassault Systèmes SOLIDWORKS: SOLIDWORKS Design described with cloud collaboration, secure file management, AI features, 3DEXPERIENCE platform; no prices on the page.
